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‘He Probably Knows He’s Gone’: Schumacher Shocked With Valtteri Bottas’ French GP Rant

Published 06/22/2021, 5:45 AM EDT

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via Reuters

At the French Grand Prix, fans witnessed Valtteri Bottas deliver one of his angriest radio messages in recent history. Although the Finn is often calm on the radio, it seems his situation on track got too hot for him to handle.

Recently, former Williams driver Ralf Schumacher gave his opinion on Bottas’ outburst.

Ralf Schumacher amazed with Valtteri Bottas after his radio message

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Although the Finn looked an improved driver in France, his struggles continued on Sunday. Despite qualifying P3 in Le Castellet, he finished P4 after Red Bull‘s strategy put Mercedes in jeopardy.

Bottas didn’t hold back his frustration with the Silver Arrows, and made it clear on the team radio. He said, “Why the f*** did no-one listen to me when I said it was going to be a two-stopper? F****** hell.”

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While the 31-year-old faced a difficult situation during the race, it wouldn’t seem to be the only factor fuelling his frustration. Although Toto Wolff appreciated the Finn for his outburst after the race, rumors of George Russell taking his seat next year continue to grow.

Ralf Schumacher gave his thoughts on Bottas’ outburst. He believes the Finn knows he’s on borrowed time with the Silver Arrows, which left him amazed with Bottas’ radio message. The German said, “I am amazed he dares to make such a radio message – in his place I would be very quiet at the moment.

“He probably knows he’s gone anyway. Whoever makes mistakes like he did, sorry – something like that doesn’t belong in the team.”

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Schumacher: Russell can make more of a difference than Bottas

Although the German didn’t take Bottas’ outburst too kindly, he didn’t stop there. He also admitted Russell will make a bigger difference than Bottas at the moment, with the Sakhir Grand Prix last year influencing his opinion.

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Schumacher said, “[For me] we would have been talking about it long ago. Russell is sitting right there. After his race last year, that would have been clear to me [to replace Bottas]. George Russell is a driver who can make more of a difference than Bottas is currently.”

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If the Silver Arrows weren’t in enough turmoil, Bottas’ outburst made it even clearer. While they look to bounce back in Austria this weekend, the conversation regarding their driver lineup seems to have no end at the moment.

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Written by:

Sanket Nair

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Sanket Nair is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. A Sports Management student, he is a huge fan of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and hopes to see Red Bull break Mercedes' dominance and win the World Championship soon. Sanket has been hooked to the sport ever since he watched the battle for the 2010 World Championship go down to the wire at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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